Video: On-the-street reactions to Windows 8

Microsoft’s 32GB Slate tablet looks like it may have already sold out in pre-orders and at the end of the month, Microsoft will be formally unveiling its next operating system, Windows 8. The next business day after that announcement, out patience will be rewarded and see Windows Phone 8 make its formal debut on October 29th.

When it comes to mobile devices, or any device for that matter, ease of use is important. When Microsoft threw out the whole enchilada that was Windows Mobile 6.x and introduced Windows Phone 7, it goes without saying that the user experience was a wholesale departure from any other mobile OS on the market. It was fresh and unique. It was also...fresh and unique.

You may appreciate the double-edged sword or sorts that circumstance creates. It is good and unique because it is somewhat refreshing to have a user interface that is more than icons on a grid or multiple screens of widgets. The “modern” (metro) UI is distinctive. Taking initial lack of certain features aside for a moment, the distinctiveness of Windows Phone 7 was also a challenge. The experience wholly removed many people from their comfort zone of what they were accustomed too: grids of icons.

Microsoft is taking the “modern” UI to the next level, encompassing the whole experience, smartphone, PC and tablet. The OS is optimized for touch, as is the forthcoming Office 2013 which is going to be available early next year, and we, the masses, will see Windows 8 in all its glory in mere days. As much as we have experienced with Windows Phone 7 and anticipate for Windows Phone 8, are we ready for Windows 8 on our tablets to deliver the same type of experience?

Chris Pirillo, a self-described geek took it upon himself to show off Windows 8 first to his dad a number of weeks ago. In that video we get to see him suffer for about 4 minutes trying to get back to the start page (with all the live tiles). His endeavor is ultimately a failure. Equally interesting however, is the reactions of those interviewed on the street.

Take a look at the street reactions, then check out the original torture Pirillo put his dad through. Are you concerned about your experience with Windows 8 if you pre-ordered Surface tablet? Or do you think it is merely a familiarity issue where once the new nuances are figured out, the experience will be second nature? By extension, if you have been waiting to adopt Windows Phone 8, does this have any influence on your consideration?

Agreed,we've had very little injuries about windows 8 phones,we almost hope we don't end up carrying any as windows 7 is very unpopular,we still have a lot of unsold stock and this 'modern ui' is almost the exact same in windows 7 and 8 and its appearance is a major turn off for most customers. Most in fact would not consider it modern,its considered ugly and extremely dated square grid menu commmodore 64 style era graphics

My problem with this is that no one is going to randomly be dropped into Windows 8. If you buy a new computer, or upgrade, there will be a tutorial covering how things work when you first boot your machine. It's not that big a deal.

The LIVE tiles make for a live, connected experience. thats what will matter once you practice a bit with win8. Its way beyond IOSs and Androids' dead icons
Lets face the revolution that win8 really is. I am using it for some days now, and its lovely. I just use the power button for my routine shut down. They will have a power live tile soon. WOW. Its marvellous, the way MS beat them all this time

You don't know Android very well if you think it's all dead icons. Widgets are live and they provide way better information than any of Windows 8's flipping boxes do. This is okay for a phone, but anyone who has to use it on their work computer is going to turn it off and go back to the Window's 7 interface.

Widgets =/= icons. Icons are static, widgets are active. Yes, LiveTiles are essentially widgets, but are natively more informative at a glance than widgets, though with the right programming on either they can be equivalent. Speaking as both an Android and Windows Phone owner, btw

just because you have a car doesnt mean you know how to drive it live tiles and widgets are not the same don't tell me a flipping box is the same as an actual widget that gives you a status update right on my screen or a play list ready to go or an email list yall are killing me with trying to give windows this similarity

I think just as touch interfaces have become much more mainstream on mobile devices, everything has a learning experience. If we spent our days stuck with just things like the keyboard and mouse we would never progress. Basically, some things have a learning curve; some more than others but its the learning that benefits and introduces a new way of interacting with our devices. The author was right in saying that its fresh and unique and with that comes a new world for everyday users.

To be fair though, if everyone one the street was proficient with devices as most of us here are, there would be no genuis bar, no customer service, and certainly no call centers ringing off the hook everyday.

22.ilia1986 (unregistered)

The problem with Win8 UI - as is the problem with ANY bad UI is simple - it relies too much on objects which the user doesn't see. It may be intuitive to slide a finger to flip from one screen to another - or to rotate a virtual dial (iOS clock for example) - but that's about it. Other gesture-based actions need to be shown first - otherwise the user won't know that they even exist. Madly swiping fingers or (even worse) mouse pointers around the screen to trigger... something is absurd - but that's precisely what people will do when they will first encounter Win8.

People are used to interacting with objects ON SCREEN. That means that if there's a button - and people know that it's a button - and it's obvious what this button does - people will click it when appropriate. If this button is hidden - and doesn't show itself when appropriate - people won't click it simply because they won't know it's there.

This is one of the many reasons people find iOS to be more intuitive to use - almost every element they interact with is ON SCREEN - and not hidden away in a gesture of some kind.

Why do people are so used to interacting only with ON SCREEN elements? Simple - people became spoiled due to Windows 95\Mac OS systems which had everything on screen - and became further spoiled by iOS which reduced the number of elements present on screen at any given time.

Thus when people nowadays encounter an OS which is slightly more complex than what they're used to - they become confused.

29.Aeires (unregistered)

Well said except I wouldn't say people were spoiled previously. What they did have was a natural progression to the UI, until now.

I'm willing to bet MS made huge changes to the UI because the previously released Win7 tablets didn't sell. Instead of placing blame where it belonged, the price of $1000 each, they probably concluded they needed to 'mobilize' the UI to make it more friendly for tablet consumption. So now there is no natural progression, only a totally radical shift to tiles, which none of the previous Windows UIs had as a main focus point. Epic fail by the design team.

Im sure during the setup process there will be a tutorial. But really, its EASY to use. I just installed it on my HTPC and am enjoying it. Position in bottom left for start menu, bottom right for Metro options (and another way to go to start menu), top left to switch apps (basically Metro task bar). Im sure the windows key on the keyboard will also initiate launching Metro, and the Desktop icon stands out from the rest since it shows you a small preview of it on that tile, whereas all the others are their various single colors.

As far as the aestetics, I think it IS ugly, but its functionality is nice and it provided a BIG improvement in performance over this box's previous OS, Windows Vista. It even boots up faster with this old box in 8 than my new box does in 7. I've committed to it with the old box due to the performance improvement and its HTPC friendly UI (have it hooked up to my TV) but Im waiting to see how app compatibility and all that stuff is before I get it for my new machine. BTW if you bought a PC on/after June 2nd of this year, you'll be able to upgrade for $15. Otherwise, Amazon has a great preorder deal for 69.99 + $30 amazon credit on your next purchase.

You have to realize that there are more people out there who aren't tech heads than are. Most know enough just to execute basic functions on a computer (web, email, games, etc.). Something like this could have repercussions beyond PC sales. It could also hurt online sales as well.

It really no different than a chef saying that someone who can't cook at his level is stupid. He took the time to learn how to do it, but not everyone will. If everyone did he'd be cooking for himself.

It's not that they are stupid. Windows has been essentially the same since Windows 95 and now they completely change the interface, so of course people are going to be confused by it. I doubt anyone was able to figure everything out intuitively. The only reason why people like us knows how to use it is because we've watched a lot of demonstration videos and read articles about the features and how to do things. It's just like when Microsoft upgraded Office in 2007. Everyone was confused where things were hidden on the ribbons. Whether or not a UI is difficult or simple is up for debate. But one thing is for sure, people going from Windows 7 to Windows 8 are going to be very confused.

The problem as I see it is not with W8, but with how it's being implemented. Phones & tablets? Fine. PCs? Not yet. Home PCs are still the way the majority of people get things done. Not everyone has a tablet or smartphone, so how is it going to feel if someone needs to replace their laptop or desktop and find that they don't like W8? Now they have an expensive device that they struggle to use. That may drive people to Linux or Apple, simply because they have an experience more similar to the older windows OS.

Btw, the people I am referring to are not those who are well versed in mobile OS use. You know the ones who still have feature phones, or smartphone users still on windows 6.5 or blackberry. By forcing those people onto a new OS with a somewhat steep learning curve, there may be a serious backlash. Last I read, smartphone penetration in the US was around 50%, with some of that 50% of smartphone users still on Win6.5 & BB. That's a rather large market to alienate. It doesn't matter if you don't agree or think they're stupid, if the majority isn't happy that could be bad news for MS.

for me this story is biased.. of course you fuggin nerd the platform is just newly relased no one have used it yet, even the smartphones line up are still on pre orders stage, and then you have the guts to show people windows 8 is as hard to operate as an abacus.. come on men, just sh*t in ur ipad, eat on ur ipad, watch porn with ur ipad and have sex over ur ipad.. this is insane, no one will learn the os in a snap., mr apple iDiot..

I don't think this video is that bias. You have to ask yourself this question, if someone is coming straight from Windows 7 to Windows 8, will they be confused? And the answer is yes. The UI is completely different. There is a steep learning curve and for a lot of the general public, this will be a huge turn off. A lot of people do not like change. Especially on something they have been using their entire life.

these people are retarded, period. It took me 5 mins to teach my parents how to use a desktop w8 pc, and never had a problem since. I feel most of you would prefer to have a windows 95 style pc forever. Well im sorry, but this is progress...

The difference is you knew the ins & outs of W8 and shared it with them. Not everyone has that available to them.

As to the earlier comment (not yours) about how they obviously wouldn't know how W8 works since it isn't released yet, how will it be any different the day it's released, or a month after? There may be some tutorials online, but those are only as good as the person writing them, and I've seen a lot of crappy ones out there. But the main thing is how intuitive is the OS? By intuitive I mean how easy is it for anyone to just start using it? There are some OSs that are intuitive, and some that aren't, and for most everyday people this appears to be the latter.

Like I said in my earlier post, it doesn't matter how easy you think it is. If the person buying a new device is put off by the learning curve, they probably won't keep it. It's not really any different than mobile phones. Many people are put off by android's learning curve, whereas iOS is relatively easy to use. If W8 is harder for people to grasp, they may end up going to Apple. MS could've made the live tiles an option in W8 so people could get their feet wet with them while allowing them to fall back on a W7 style OS while they learn. This is more like throwing them into the deep end and hoping they swim. Only time will tell if it works out or not.

If I had to guess MS's reasoning, I'd say they want to get as many people on it as quick as they can so that they might consider a Windows phone for their next smartphone. If it works it would give them the same experience whether on their smartphone, tablet, or desktop/laptop. In reality MS should've made the live tiles an add on for Windows7 so by the time W8 came out people would have a good grasp on it.

you see friends! I have been using win8 too, and let me tell you, the moment and email is sent, it is shown on the mail Tile. the moment a message comes from anyone, it shows on the messages Tile. I tell you, dead icons are dead. As far as the apps are concerned, I won't worry about them cuz MS is the biggest OS company in the world, and they are the most experienced in terms of software etc.
having used live tiles, IOS and Android seems so dead to me

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